I’m not a fan of dialling customer service hotlines. Most of the time, I would be placed on hold for awhile, listening to recorded voice or some elevator music if good, else music from the wrong radio channel.

I hung up. Called the main line, asked to be transferred to the correct department.

After mins of being placed on hold, I was glad to hear an actual person’s voice. I had the officer help with my request and after that, I said, “Can I give you some feedback?”

CS: Yes please do.

I told the officer that the automated hotline was tedious, quite silly, and I couldn’t get to be transferred to an actual officer to speak to.

He tried to explain that it could be that they are having a high volume of calls etc, which then I counter that it should at least inform the customer that the call was being transferred, not to be put through the entire sequence again.

At the end of it, he understood what I meant. I’m suspecting that he probably feels the same way about the system as I did.

To top this experience, I received a call from another service provider today, requesting for feedback on the performance of a customer service officer which

1. I can’t even remember when did I make the call to this service provider

2. I can’t even remember if I had spoken to a customer service personnel.

I asked when the call was made, the lady replied, “Oh, you made the call 3 weeks ago…”

3 weeks ago?! How would I remember?

Feedback should be timely and prompt. Not 3 weeks later

And please make it easy to speak to an actual person for all those providers out there.